


Inanis

by bananaanapanda



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, F/M, Jean isn't a complete asshole, M/M, Magic AU, POV Jean Kirstein
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-19 20:23:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4759772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananaanapanda/pseuds/bananaanapanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>...You see, I may live in the human world, but it wasn’t always that way.   I am originally from a magical realm known as Trost.   However, when I was born, I didn’t have a magicis mark.   Because of this, I wasn’t able to do magic like the rest of Trost.  These marks weren’t even that amazing, and the fact that I didn’t have one was perfectly fine by me...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I am an Inanis

Inanis: The Latin word for empty.

A word that has been my label since the day I was born.

You see, I may live in the human world, but it wasn’t always that way.   I am originally from a magical realm known as Trost.   However, when I was born, I didn’t have a magicis mark.   Because of this, I wasn’t able to do magic like the rest of Trost.  These marks weren’t even that amazing, and the fact that I didn’t have one was perfectly fine by me.

But being magicless in Trost did have a price.  Since I was useless in this realm, I was sent to the human world when I was 5.  Not too much sent, more like left.  By this I mean, I was just abandoned to fend for myself.  One minute I was with my mother, looking at the window of a pet shop. Then the next moment, I turned and she wasn’t there anymore.  I cried and cried, but I never saw her or my father again.  I was alone in a world I wasn’t familiar with. 

I believe I was left in this world since I was an embarrassment to my parents.  Especially to my father.  He was a powerful Tenebras—controller of dark magic.  Along with some Lucem—controllers of white magic—he was responsible for keeping control over Trost.  A balance if you will, until a Grey was born.  Greys could control both dark and white magic.  However, one hadn’t been born for centuries.

My parents believed I would be the next Grey, since my mother was a Lucem and my father was a Tenebras.  A pairing like them was rare.  Lucerms usually bonded with other Lucems and vice versa.  But nope.  I was the first Inanis to be born in the last century.   Lucky me.

But I had to admit, the human world wasn’t bad and I had no intention of returning to Trost. It’s not like I remember much of it anyways, but my place was here.  My home was here.  My family was here.

A light rustling of sheets disturbed me from my thoughts.  My gaze immediately fell to the source of the noise and a rare smile fell on my lips, “You’re awake.” I stood from my seat and made my way towards the hospital bed.  I held her fragile hand in mine.  She smiled tiredly as she squeezed my hand lightly.

Betty was the closes thing I had to a mother in this world.  She took me in when I needed my parents the most.  “Jean, my boy, how long have you been here?” her voice soft and delicate.

“Not long.  My class ended early so I thought I’d come before I had to go to work.”  I studied her carefully.  Light wrinkles covered her pale face.  I sighed lightly.  Betty was 45 when I came into her life.  Calling me a blessing, since the year before she found me she had lost both her husband and only son in a house fire.

That was almost 20 years ago.

Although it had just been the two of us from then on, life never felt lonely.  We made it by just fine, until recently.  Betty’s health began to decline a few months ago, constantly bringing her to the hospital.  I started working a second job in a local comic book store and picked up more shifts at the coffee shop I’d been working in since my freshmen year of college.  All in order to help pay bills and make sure Betty got the best treatments. However, tests never found anything wrong, which worried me greatly. 

No diagnosis meant no possible treatments.  And with every day that passed, I slowly saw the life draining from her eyes, which terrified me.

Her eyebrows frowned, “You should’ve gone home to rest.  Always working and studying so hard. You must be tired.” She was right. I was tired and stressed with finals coming up.  Not to mention graduation and job applications.   I was scared shitless by that too.  But we really needed the money. Betty didn’t need to worry about that, though.   She had accepted me as her own and took care of me.  It was my turn to repay her. I could handle it.  Well at least I like to think I can.

I just shrugged, “I’m fine.” I caught a quick glance at my watch.  It was 3:15pm.  I entered work at the comic books store at 4:30.  I sighed. I still needed to eat lunch and take a quick shower.  “Need to go already?” she asked with a sad smile.  I nodded, “Yea, but I will be back tonight.”  I leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I love you, mom.  I’ll see you soon, okay?”

She placed a cold hand on my cheek, “Okay, sweetheart.  Be careful and make sure you eat.”  I nodded as I kissed her hand softly before leaving.

I breathed in deeply as I made my way down the hall.  Although I wasn’t able to perform magic, as of late I which I had the ability.  Maybe if I was a Lucem I would be able to do more to help Betty. 

Signed for the hundredth time today, I made my way to my car.  Since the hospital parking lot was often full, I parked by a gas station a few blocks down. Good thing it wasn't to hot today and besides, a little walking never hurt anyone.

As my car became visible I noticed some jackass leaning on my car.  Now, if you knew me you’d know I was extremely delicate about my car.  It was a black 2012 Nissan Altima—nothing fancy, I know—but I bought it with my own hard earned cash.  No way was I going to let someone lay even a scratch on it.

Anyway, whoever this guy was, his face turned from me.  “Hey!”  I said sternly, but the stranger didn’t move.  “Hey douchbag!”  I roughly yanked his shoulder, but then I froze.  Not because of the bright brown eyes that stared back in confusion and fear. And it wasn't the fact that this guy looked like he got mulled by a bear. (And it certainly wasn't that fact that his face was adorned with cutest collection of freckles I'd ever seen.)

It was his tattoo.

One that I was suppose have been born with.  One that hadn’t been seen in centuries... 

What was a Grey doing here…?

 


	2. I'm just a reject

I rubbed my temples with my index fingers as I sighed heavily. Yes, I know, I sigh a lot. I get irritated easily. Sue me. 

I was supposed to be getting ready for work, but I wasn’t. 

Instead I was trying to grasp the situation that I found myself in. Although I, or anyone else for that matter, hadn’t seen a Grey magicis mark in centuries, it had been recorded from the past. While the Lucem mark—represented by a sun—and the Tenebras mark—represented by a dark crescent—appeared individually, the Grey mark was the crescent overlapping the sun. These marks, regardless of the magic you possessed, appeared on the right forearm at birth. 

Freckles had the Grey magicis mark that much I was sure of. But what his name was or how he got here I didn’t know.

The guy nearly fainted by the time I was able to form a coherent thought. I should have probably taken him to the hospital to make sure he was okay, but he—half consciously—begged me not to. Instead I brought him back to my place. And besides, I had quite a few questions I needed answers for.

What the hell did he come from? Was he hiding all this time? He couldn’t be that much older than I was. He was at the most in his late twenties. 

He was certainly much heavier than what he appeared. By the time I reached the small apartment Betty and I called home, Freckles had passed out. I was surprised I was able to bring him to the living room without hurting us both. 

I leaned back on the kitchen chair I brought into the living room and let my gaze fall on him. Although he was asleep, his expression looked pained. A few scratches and light bruises were scattered around his face and arms. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had more under his clothes. Clothes… That’s a laugh. They seemed more like rags to me.

The more I studied the sleeping figure on my couch, the more my heart clenched tightly. He looked like an angel and the fact that anyone would have laid a single hand on him raised my anger. This was a strange feeling for me. Although I was well aware of my sexuality, I’d never felt this strong of an attraction towards anyone before.

He certainly is something special. I can already tell. 

I tilted my head up and stretched the muscles in my neck while I closed my eyes, sighing softly. 

“I should call Reiner.” I said to myself as I stood and headed to the kitchen. Reiner ran the small comic book store with his fiancé, Bertholdt. Asides form my bosses, they were also my friends since high school. When they heard I was struggling financially and about Betty’s condition, they were more than happy to help us and offered me a job. 

After I fished my cell out of my front pant pocket, I dialed Reiner.

“Kirstein, your shift starts soon. Where are you?” 

“Reiner, I won’t be able to make it in. Something came up.” I said as I gazed back to Freckles.

There was a small pause. He was problem creating different scenarios on why I wasn’t going to show up today. “Shit. Man, is everything okay? Is Bet-“

Yep. Of course that would be his first thought. “Everything is okay. Mom’s okay. Just need to sort somethings out.” I mumbled, hoping he wouldn’t ask more questions. What would I say? Oh a Grey from the realm I’m from happened to be on earth. I’m a reject of said realm and was abandoned here by my parents when I was a kid. 

Yea, that’s a story worth sharing.

But then, I could always lie and say my very cute freckled cousin came from out of town to visit.

Or better yet, I don’t mention anything. As long as I avoid it. Yea. That sounds like a great plan. 

He exhaled loudly, “Okay. Don’t worry about it. Bert can cover for you. Today is kind of a slow day anyways. Just let us know if you need anything. Make sure you eat and don’t work yourself to hard.”

I rolled my eyes, “Yes mom.”

He chuckled before saying goodbye and hanging up. Reiner was a good guy. He and Bert both were like a set of parents I never had. Literally over protecting and caring, but they meant well. 

I ran a hand through my hair and decided it was time to cook dinner. With a six hour shift this morning at the coffee shop and a two hour lecture following soon after, I didn’t find time to eat lunch and honestly I was starving.

Half-heartily I looked in the cabinets and pulled out what I needed to make spaghetti. 

As I filled the pot with water I caught a quick glance of Freckles. I made a mental note to make sure to cook some for him too. I’ve gotten into the routine of just cooking for one, since leftovers usually went to waste. 

“Pretty sure freckled prince will be hungry when he’s up.” I said to myself as I placed the pot on the stove and turned on the flame. 

As I was placing the pasta into the now boiling water I heard some rustling coming from the living room. I lowered the flame and walked in to the living room to find Freckles up and about, quietly looking at the few pictures Betty had hung on the wall.

“Have a nice nap?” I asked. 

He flinched and quickly turned towards me. Those brown eyes expressed his fear as he walked closer to the wall. Was he really scared of me? I frowned my eyebrows and walked towards him. Surely enough he tried to back up more until the wall stopped him. 

“What are you doing here?” His voice was hoarse and his words were rushed.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I should be asking the questions here, don’t you think?”

He shook his head and I saw the fear being replaced by anxiety. “No. No. T-Tenebras aren’t supposed to be on earth. Y-you weren’t supposed to follow.”

I scratched my head. Did he really think I was a Tenebras? I extended my arms, exposing my forearms. “See. No magicis.” I said quietly as I tried to approach him. Something bad most have happened if he was freaking out like this. 

His eyes widened when he saw no mark. He grabbed my right arm—harshly if I must add—and ran his hand over my forearm. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel sparks the moment his fingertips touched my skin. I hadn’t even known the guy for an entire day and I already felt a strong attraction towards him. “But he carries the dark energy.” He mumbled just loud enough for me to hear.

Dark energy? What the hell…

He looked up at me, “How do you know about the magicis mark?”

I pulled my hand from his grip, “I’m an Inanis.”

He looked at me surprised, “But one hasn’t been born in centuries.”

I moved closer to him and he flinched as I took his arm and extended it to expose his mark. “Yea, same with Grey’s.”

He chuckled half-heartily as he pulled his hand free from my grip, “What good is the mark if it doesn’t come with power?” He finally meet my gaze and all I could see was pain and suffering. 

So he had no power either. I knew exactly how he felt. Not living up to an expectation. Being a reject from a place you were suppose to call home.

I don’t know why I did it or why he let it happen. Perhaps he just needed to be comforted. Or maybe it was something greater and Freckles felt it too. I hugged him. And I didn’t want to let go. 

And somehow I knew that I wouldn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Planning on creating a series in which Marco's story is expanded on. Should be out in a few weeks. Hopefully! Hope ya'll liked it !! :)


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